Swedish Opens Doors: Bringing Ukrainian Entrepreneurs and the Finland-Swedish Business Community Together

At Advicera, we believe that entrepreneurship is about much more than starting a company. It is about building relationships, finding opportunities, and becoming part of a community.

For many Ukrainians who have moved to Finland, language remains one of the biggest barriers to entering new professional networks. While Finnish often receives the most attention, Swedish plays an equally important role in many parts of the country and opens the door to a vibrant business community, especially in Helsinki and Ostrobothnia.

This is why we launched Swedish Opens Doors, a project supported by Svenska kulturfonden that combined entrepreneurship, language learning, and networking into one practical programme.

Our goal was to help Ukrainian entrepreneurs strengthen their practical business Swedish while building meaningful relationships with the Finland-Swedish business community.

Turning an idea into a practical programme

When designing the project, we didn't want to create another traditional language course.

Instead, we asked ourselves a simple question:

How can entrepreneurs learn Swedish while discussing real business challenges with experienced entrepreneurs?

The answer became a hybrid programme that combined networking events, practical language learning, and mentoring.

The project started with two in-person events—one in Espoo and one in Nykarleby. These events introduced participants to entrepreneurship in Finland, practical business Swedish, and the Finland-Swedish business community.

We were honoured to welcome Reidar Wasenius, entrepreneur and former Managing Director of FiBAN, as the keynote speaker in Espoo. In Nykarleby, participants met Frank Sandqvist, serial entrepreneur and Director of Nykarleby Innovation Center. Both speakers shared practical insights into entrepreneurship, business development, and the importance of professional networks in Finland.

Following the launch events, participants joined a structured online mentoring programme consisting of five interactive sessions that allowed participants to learn from experienced entrepreneurs and connect with the Finland-Swedish business community. We were grateful to work with five outstanding Finland-Swedish mentors:

Pär Mickos, Daniel Löf, Nina Ingves, Elton Kullström, and Jan Sten. Together, they shared practical experience in entrepreneurship, business development, fundraising, sales, company building, and professional networking.

Who joined the programme?

The response exceeded our expectations.

A total of 36 Ukrainian entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs joined the programme, significantly exceeding our original target.

Some participants were already running businesses in Finland. Others were preparing to launch their first company. Several had entrepreneurial experience from Ukraine and were now rebuilding their professional lives in a new country.

Their Swedish language skills varied considerably. Around half of the participants had no previous knowledge of Swedish, while others already had beginner or intermediate language skills. This diversity created a supportive learning environment where everyone could participate regardless of their starting point.

What we learned

Instead of teaching Swedish in isolation, we integrated it into real entrepreneurial conversations. Participants weren't simply memorising vocabulary — they were discussing business ideas, fundraising, customers, partnerships, and growth. Swedish became a practical tool for communication rather than a classroom subject.

The project also showed us something broader. There is genuine interest among Ukrainians in Finland not only in entrepreneurship but also in becoming part of the Finland-Swedish community. Throughout the programme, we saw participants actively engaging with mentors, continuing conversations after the sessions, exchanging contact details, and building relationships that extended beyond the project itself.

For us, this confirmed that Swedish can be much more than a language to learn. It can be a pathway to new professional networks, new business opportunities, and deeper integration into Finnish society.

Looking ahead

Although Swedish Opens Doors has officially concluded, we see it as the beginning rather than the end of this work.

The project clearly demonstrated that there is demand for initiatives that combine entrepreneurship, networking, and Swedish language learning. Ukrainian entrepreneurs are interested in building businesses in Finland, and many are equally interested in becoming part of the Finland-Swedish business community when given the opportunity and the right support.

At Advicera, we believe there is significant potential to continue developing this model. We want to create more initiatives that help Ukrainian entrepreneurs integrate into Finland through entrepreneurship, professional networks, and language. Swedish has an important role to play in that journey—not only as one of Finland's national languages, but also as a gateway to opportunities, collaboration, and long-term participation in Finnish society.

Our experience with Swedish Opens Doors strengthened our belief that entrepreneurship and language learning reinforce one another. When people are given the opportunity to learn a language while building businesses and meaningful professional relationships, integration becomes more practical, more natural, and ultimately more successful.

This project was only one step, but we hope it will contribute to a growing recognition that supporting Ukrainian entrepreneurs through Swedish-language initiatives benefits not only the participants themselves but also Finland's entrepreneurial ecosystem and the Finland-Swedish community as a whole.